There were a few early signs of spring with Goshawk seen displaying briefly at an undisclosed site, highlighting that once this week (Christmas) is out of the way, spring isn’t just around the corner, it’s practically here! There was a good candidate for for a Siberian Chiffchaff on Wareham Common this afternoon, in the company of 4 Common Chiffchaff. In Middlebere there was 1 Spotted Redshank, 1 male Merlin, 3 Marsh Harrier and 12 Fieldfare. Wareham Common Cattle Egret numbers were much reduced today with 19 this afternoon, but also 10 at Holmebridge. The harbour entrance was a bit quieter this morning and only saw 1 of each Great Northern and Black-throated Diver fly in, but 4 Great Northern Diver were off Jerry’s Pointb along with 3 Black-necked Grebe. 

Potential Siberian Chiffchaff – Wareham Common – Trevor Warwick

A completely different day to yesterday with calm sunny conditions, meaning more birds and birders were out. 1 Purple Sandpiper was still on the groynes opposite the Sandbanks Beach Car Park. 10 Glossy Ibis were in Curlews Field, Swineham and 66 Cattle Egret headed from Wareham Common towards Swineham at dusk. On the Brownsea Lagoon there was an impressive count for the site of 74 Grey Plover along with the first Spoonbill (1) for some weeks. There were also, 317 Avocet, 20 Curlew, 63 Bar-tailed Godwit, 476 Black-tailed Godwit, 10 Greenshank, 8 Turnstone and 316 Dunlin. 10 Crossbill flew over the Arne RSPB car park this morning and 2 Brambling were also seen at Arne. 20 Spoonbill were at Shipstal. 3 Black-necked Grebe were in Studland Bay. c400 Avocet were in the Middlebere Channel along with 1 Marsh Harrier and 8 Fieldfare were along the entrance track to the Avocet Hide. 1 Red Kite flew over Rock Lea View, Lytchett Bay and 1 male Mandarin Duck was in Poole Park.

Mandarin Duck – Poole Park Lake – Clive Hargrave

Yesterdays serene sunset and calming winter scenes didn’t last too long as we were back to a building southerly wind during the course of the day. A short watch off of Jerry’s Point saw 4 Black-necked Grebe, 4 Great Northern Diver and 2 Goldeneye. On Wareham Common 44 Cattle Egret were feeding, 12 Fieldfare were at Middlebere and 3 Glossy Ibis were at Swineham.

Spoonbill flock feeding – Shipstal, RSPB Arne – Martin Wright

Black-necked Grebes – Jerry’s Point – John Thorp

As the sun set on our final bird boat of 2025, we’d like to thank everyone who’s joined us on any of our trips this year. We’ve been able to deliver a whole host of new trips this year thanks to everyones continued excitement and willingness to participate. With a short stop-gap for Christmas, we’ll be getting straight back into the action in the New Year and 2026 will have a heap of new and exciting trips to attend to get yuo closer to the harbours birdlife and landscape.

This afternoon, as the sun set and the wind eased we were treated to 10 Great Northern Diver close to the harbour entrance and off Jerry’s Point, along with 6 Black-necked Grebe, 4 Goldeneye and c15 Red-breasted Merganser. In the Wareham Channel 13 Spoonbill were feeding close to the Arne shoreline, plus 4 Marsh Harrier were floating around. A Water Pipit flew over Swineham Point, 2 Kingfisher were in the mouth of the River Frome. There were good numbers of dark-bellied Brent Geese along the southern shores. This morning a Slavonian Grebe was off Jerry’s Point, a Spotted Redshank was at Lytchett Fields and a Goshawk flew over Middlebere.

Brittany signing off the 2025 Boat Trip season this afternoon

Well, it was nice whilst it lasted. Back to some pretty torrid weather today, with visibility and sightings a tad on the low side. The best from a rather grey day included the Velvet Scoter off Jerry’s Point this morning along with 5 Black-necked Grebe and 5 Great Northern Diver. A Ruff was on Lytchett Fields this morning,  a single Glossy Ibis was on Wareham Common and Holes Bay is still holding lots of birds including 1000+ Black-tailed Godwit this afternoon, c200 Avocet, c1500 Wigeon and 204 Shoveler.

Ruff – Lytchett Fields – Mick Brooks

With the wind building today, it made birding conditions slightly trickier but there was still lots ‘to be had’. The Purple Sandpiper group grew to 3 today, which is the highest harbour total for a number of years! Todays were located on one of the rocky groynes by the ‘Shack by the Shore’ food outlet at Shore Road, Sandbanks. The harbour entrance and Jerry’s Point area wa sbusy again and saw 2 Slavonian Grebe, 6 Black-necked Grebe, 6 Goldeneye, 5 Great Northern Diver, 1 Velvet Scoter and 34 Red-breasted Merganser. Across the whole harbour c10 Great Northern Diver were counted, plus there were c20 Spoonbill around the shipstal area of RSPB Arne, 8 Marsh Harrier around Swineham and 8 Glossy Ibis were still in wet meadows at Swineham by the gravel pit. Merlin have been a bit scrace this winter, but 1 was hunting briefly over the gull islands in the Wareham Channel this morning. A White-tailed Eagle was also sat on the shoreline in the Wareham Channel and later this evening a Scaup was reported off Jerry’s Point.

Purple Sandpiper – Shore Road, Sandbanks – Garry Hayman

Glossy Ibis – Swineham – Garry Hayman

A busy day across the harbour today, and with this mornings rain clearing quickly it allowed for some good coverage across the harbour including from our Winter Safari this morning. Highlights from across the harbour included 9 Glossy Ibis on the Swineham Pools, 1 Velvet Scoter, 7 Great Northern Diver, 1 Black-throated Diver and 8 Black-necked Grebe off of Jerry’s Point. The 2 Purple Sandpiper were still on rocky groynes off the main Sandbanks Beach, c20 Spoonbill were feeding between Shipstal and Middlebere, Swineham had 4-5 different Marsh Harrier moving around. The Brownsea Lagoon was pretty full of water, but did hold c500 Avocet, 76 Bar-tailed Godwit, c1160 Black-tailed Godwit, 11 Greenshank and 6 Grey Plover. Middlebere logged 1 Goshawk bombing through, also 1 Jack Snipe flushed, 1 Spotted Redshank was in the channel and 40+ Fieldfare were along the track.

Purple Sandpiper – Sandbanks – Ian Ballam